


Anomalies

by doctorivory



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Batman Knows Everything, Harry Grows Up With Positive Influences, Multi, Speedster!Harry, Strange And Terrible Things Will Soon Be Happening At Hogwarts, Superpowers, The Flash as Harry's Mentor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-04
Updated: 2014-09-24
Packaged: 2018-01-21 20:55:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1563749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorivory/pseuds/doctorivory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes accidental magic releases snakes from their cages or inflates people's relatives. Other times it gives people super powers. Harry Potter, of course, has experienced all three.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So for reference the prologue takes place sometime in the year before Independence Day (I'm leaning towards that fall right now) as Harry's 10th birthday being shortly after the first episode. Then after the prologue we will be flashing (heh) forward to Harry's first year, leaving YJ to be pretty much canon through season 1 but I'll most likely be ignoring large parts of season 2 (some of which I'm sure you can guess).
> 
> For those of you who don't know YJ as well don't fret too much, it won't actually be featured as much beyond Harry discussing it and what does appear should be able to be followed easily (if not you can tell me and I'll explain in a note).

As wizards well know, magic is capable of a great many things. It can heal. It can create. It can destroy. It can do amazing things for those who learn to control it, but sometimes it works in way even its users can’t understand. It can manifest in ways never expected with even more unexpected results. A great witch of the past once named these manifestations as Anomalies.

There were a lot of things that Harry had to learn in his short nine years to ensure his survival at the hands of the Dursleys. Among those were to never ask questions and never talk back. If something strange happened it was best to pretend it didn’t happen and keep it to himself. The one that he broke today however, was a key one: never do better than Dudley.

The thing is, is that Harry had always had a thing for science. It was the one subject where he actually had his questions answered, and being as curious as he was, this was a beautiful thing for him. So when a pretty young scientist by the name of Dr. Alexis started coming into his class to teach them about animals once a week, it quickly became Harry’s favorite part of school.

And when Harry’s favorite teacher gave them a quiz, he of course was determined to do well on it. She was the first adult in a long while to treat Harry normally and he was so grateful for that. He just had to make sure she knew he was trying.

Of course, when the quizzes were handed back with a bright red 70to Dudley and a ‘Perfect!’ on his own he knew he had screwed up. The smile Dr. Alexis gave him when he got the quiz back almost made up for the beating he knew Dudley and his friends were going to give him later.

When their teacher dismissed them at the end of the day, and Dr. Alexis bid them goodbye, Harry was the first one out of his seat, hoping if he made it out of the school before Dudley and his friends he could get at least get a head start. He managed to make it out the door of the classroom and around the corner before a hand grabbed his shoulder.

Dudley slammed him against the wall and with a quick look up and down the hall he snatched the test out of Harry’s hands.  
“See you aced the test, Freak,” Dudley growled, thrusting the paper back into Harry’s hands. “You know what that means, right?” Harry could hear Malcolm and Dennis crack their knuckles from their positions behind Dudley.

“You need a tutor?” Harry said weakly, his heart racing slightly as he tried to find a way out. He was not going to get beat up again- not after how bad it was last time. His cousin let out another growl and Piers moved closer to Dudley, ready to back him up. Harry used the opportunity to duck through the small gap Piers had made and run down the hallway.

One of the upper year teachers called out for him to stop running but Harry paid her no mind. He focused on getting out of the school as fast as he could. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally burst through the doors and saw there were not as many students out anymore that could slow him down. His breath hitched again as he heard Dudley and his gang leave the school behind him.

His chest ached from the running combined with his panicked breathing. Not again, not after last time. He kept repeating this mantra in his head. As much as Dudley had pushed him around in the past it had never been as bad as the last time. The pain was terrible and he’d been forced to stay at home- in the blasted cupboard with his aunt complaining just outside of it- for three whole weeks and Harry refused to let it happen again. Muscles screaming at him, he pushed himself harder, willing himself faster.

Something burst in his chest, filling up his whole being with a feeling he’d never felt before. Energy coursed through his veins as the world blurred around him. He felt lighter than before and his breathing was coming more steadily now. After a few minutes he realized he couldn’t hear anything behind him so he skidded to a stop, tripping over several things in his effort to stop.

He coughed slightly as he pulled himself to his feet, happy that he had escaped his pursuers. He looks up to see where he had stopped and his stomach dropped. He was surrounded by green fields and sheep bleated at him from several feet away. How had he gotten here and how was he going to explain this to his aunt and uncle?

Harry turned on his heel several times to get a look at his surroundings. There was green in every direction with a few scattered trees. He could see a house in the distance and decided that that was his best bet. He took off toward it and was surprised to find himself next to it in barely a second, once again having to skid to stop fully. The young boy tried to quell the panic rising in his chest. 

He shook his head and walked up to the door- slowly this time- and knocked on it rapidly, making it sound more like a wood pecker rather than someone knocking. He waited what felt like hours (though he knew it couldn’t have been- the watch that he’d snatched out of the cereal box two weeks ago when Dudley complained about not wanting a girly (Wonder Woman) themed watch said it had only been two minutes) before knocking again, louder. No one came to the door and Harry bit his lip.

Turning on his heel he tried to discern which direction he had come from and decided that it was best he headed that way. Maybe if he backtracked he could make it home?

Harry took a deep breath and started running as the world blurred around him again. So he had somehow gained super speed. Great, another thing that made him a freak. How the heck did he get super speed though? It was something you saw in heroes like the Flash or Superman. Not little kids without any parents.

He tried to time it, estimating how long it took the first time for him to reach the field. After what he hoped was the right amount of time he skidded to a stop once again to find himself by an ocean. A large structure stood to his left and he recognized it from the alien show Dudley had become so fond of. Cardiff? As in, Cardiff, Wales?

Don’t panic, he told himself as he felt his breath speeding up. He turned around and sped back, hoping it would take him towards Surrey. This time he ended up in London, closer but still no cigar. He turned again, Glasgow. That was even farther!

Tears were starting to gather in his eyes as he sped back and when he stopped to wipe them from his face he realized he was in Paris. He wasn’t going to cry, but he was fighting a losing battle. Harry was in full blown panic mode as he realized he had run across the Channel. He took off again, not even sure which direction he had run this time. 

Vienna. Brussels. Paris again. Moscow. 

Each time he stopped he ended up in a new place and he was crying too hard to properly pay attention. He continued to dodge out of the way of anything moving slower than he, so he wasn’t prepared for something moving at his speed.

The collision hurt more than the actual landing Harry realized, and the pain shocked him so much he stopped crying. He stood up shakily and flinched as another person jumped to his feet as well. The other person was a teenager, several years older than him. He was dressed in civilian clothing and had a shock of red hair that would have offended his Aunt Petunia despite it being obviously natural.

“What the hell was that?” The redhead complained, rubbing his head. “Uncle Barry you should know to look where you-” the teenager stopped short when he saw that it wasn’t his uncle that he was talking to. “What the hell?”

“Y-You have super speed too?” Harry asked, shaky and surprised. He thought only the Flash and his sidekick had super speed.

“Too?” The teenager wondered aloud before the situation behind the crash sank in and groaned. He tapped his ear twice with a grave look on his face. “Uncle Barry, I’m in the country outside of Rome and we have a problem.” He paused and Harry wondered who he was talking to. It didn’t look like he had a blue tooth (Uncle Vernon had one and they stuck out making him look like an alien) but he had to be talking to someone right? Harry sure hoped so. “No I didn’t do anything you just have to come and see this!” The teen sighed before turning back to Harry. “What’s your name, kid?”

“Harry Potter,” Harry told him, completely forgetting all of the stranger danger lectures he had gotten in school. The redhead opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a gust of wind breezing past them accompanied by a red blur. Harry belatedly realized it was the Flash.

“Wally, why are you running around out of uniform?” The Flash asked, paying Harry no mind at all. Harry thought this was for the better as the young boy couldn’t seem to pick his jaw up off the ground. The newly dubbed Wally rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I was hungry for some pasta?” He grinned up at his uncle (the Flash!) innocently before pointing at Harry, “That’s not the point though! This kid has super speed!” The Flash spun around to get a good look at the boy. Harry’s face had dried but he could still feel where the tears had crusted on his face, his backpack was ratty, and he still had the science test clutched close to his chest. “He says his name is Harry.”

“Hello, Harry,” the Flash knelt down in front of Harry and he tried to blink away his shock. “I’m the Flash. How are you?” He smiled warmly and Harry instantly felt like he could trust the man, just like he trusted Dr. Alex. Besides, he was a hero, wasn’t he? If he couldn’t trust a hero then who could he trust?

“I-I just want to go home,” he whispered, his eyes getting watery again. He hated crying, Uncle Vernon said it was weak but everything that had happened that day was overwhelming him. 

“Don’t worry, Harry, we’ll get you there,” the Flash assured him, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Can you tell me one thing first?” Harry nodded quickly and so the Flash powered on. “How did you run so fast?”

“I don’t know,” Harry admitted quietly, “One minute I was running from my cousin the next I was in the middle of nowhere.” Flash turned his head slightly and shared a look with Wally. “Could you teach me?” He burst out suddenly.

“Teach you what?” The hero asked, slightly startled.

“How to stop? And how to control my speed? Everything?” The boy questioned rapidly, bouncing slightly at the prospect, his tears once again forgotten. Wally blinked where the Flash’s mask didn’t allow him to.

“I suppose I need to, don’t I? Don’t want you ending up in Rome again by accident,” The Flash said after a moment of silence, sharing another look with his nephew. Harry grinned widely and the hero grinned softly back, though behind the smile he could see the man was troubled. He couldn’t bring himself to care though; it looked like some good had come out of the day after all!


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry surprisingly manages to get Harry onto the train on time where he meets some interesting people as well as a hat that reminds him a bit too much of Doctor Fate's helmet.

The alleyway was quiet and unmistakably empty. A light breeze blew a lone leaf across the cement. Suddenly the wind picked up as a figure appeared where he hadn’t been moments before. Another, a child with messy dark hair and an owl cage tripped to a stop next to him, the man putting a hand on his shoulder to steady him. A teen skidded into the alleyway last, knocking over a trashcan as he tried to stop. He dropped a large trunk on the ground with a ‘thunk’ when he finally managed stop running.

“Remind me again why we couldn’t have flown? Or driven or something?” Wally complained, leaning on the trunk with a pout. Barry rolled his eyes in fond amusement, not even bothering to grace the teen with a response.

“Look, there’s Kings Cross Station! And it’s only 1030. See Harry, I told you we’d make it in plenty of time.” He instead turned to the child who was stroking the disgruntled owl in his arms. Harry frowned up at his mentor when he’d soothed the animal.

“If we don’t hurry though we still could be late,” he pointed out.

“Because that’s a new idea,” Wally grumbled and Barry shot him a look, elbowing him in the chest.

“Well we better hurry then,” the oldest speedster said, choosing once again not to respond to Wally’s shot. He put a hand on Harry’s shoulder and guided him towards the train station, while the redhead easily hoisted the trunk back into his arms and followed after them.

Barry pulled the Hogwarts Express ticket out of his pocket to give it a cursory look, even though he had looked at it more than once before that day. The information still hadn’t changed and ‘Platform 9&3/4’ shone brightly under the unusually sun.

“Maybe it’s another hidden entrance?” Wally suggested as he saw the ticket in his uncle’s hand. “That’s how we got into Diagon Alley and these people seem as paranoid as Batman about their secret though they don’t seem to be nearly as good at hiding things.” 

“Guess we’ll have to find out,” Barry responded as they entered the station, a blast of air conditioning hitting the trio in the face. Hedwig ruffled her feathers in the cage at the sudden change of temperature. They headed in the direction of Platforms 9 and 10, but when they got there, there was no indication of any sort of in-between platform, unlike with the Leaky Cauldron which at least had a sign visible to the magical eye.

Harry was about to suggest that they ask a conductor as time was running short but, just as he opened his mouth to do so, a plump redheaded woman pushed past him with a trail of younger redheads following. He would’ve just ignored them as they were in a hurry as well if he hadn’t heard the word ‘muggle’ come from the mother’s mouth. 

The youngest speedster tugged on Barry’s elbow and gestured to the family, “I think they may be looking for the platform too.” He informed him quietly, not wanting to catch their attention. The trio watched them for a moment as what appeared to be the oldest child disappeared through the column in between the signs for platforms 9 and 10.

“Do you really just run at the wall?” Wally asked with obvious interested. Barry shrugged at him as one by one the rest of the family disappeared in the same manner through the barrier.

“Seems easy enough,” Barry commented as the speedsters headed over to the barrier. They stopped in front of it and Wally casted a quick eye at Barry before shoving Harry forward.

“Well, you’re the wizard, you first!” Harry glared up at Wally and righted himself as he turned to face the wall. He tightened his grip on Hedwig’s cage and took a deep breath before running (slowly for him) towards the wall. Once he was on the other side he realized that he had closed his eyes and opened them in surprise.

The train whistle blew shrilly, signaling that time was running out and Harry realized that they had essentially arrived just in the nick of time. Typical. Wally and then Barry burst through shortly after, nearly knocking over a boy with a toad and a teen with a tarantula.

“Told you we would make it,” Barry told the young wizard cheerfully once again, now that he had proof of his punctuality. Harry gave him a look and Wally rolled his eyes as he rejoined them, having apologized to the two boys (and checking out the tarantula which was a lot bigger than tarantula’s normally were). 

“We were nearly late,” Harry pointed out when the train whistle blew again and the redheaded mother they had followed in ushered her twins onto the train past them. Barry shrugged helplessly as he ushered him towards the train and deftly lifted the trunk onto it. “We have super speed yet we can’t get anywhere on time.”

“Quiet,” the blond warned him with a bump to the shoulder and a small smile.

“Thanks for bringing me here,” Harry said as he smiled back a bit bashfully, a lot more relaxed now that the train was in sight.

“It’s not like the Dursleys were going to take you,” Wally snorted.

“And of course we weren’t going to miss seeing you off!” Barry chimed in, nudging his nephew. “Write to us when you can- and actually write to us, don’t just say you will. If you have time to yourself then I give you permission to run to London to a Zeta Beam. But only London, alright? Don’t run across the ocean to the Mountain or our house from school unless it’s an emergency.” Harry brightened further at that.

“By myself?”

“Yes, by yourself, be good okay? We’ll miss you.” Barry hugged the eleven year old tightly to which Harry returned it happily. Wally swooped in as soon as his uncle let go to ruffle the youngest speedster’s hair.

“Don’t get into too much trouble without me, got it? And you better write to me as well, tell me all the weird things you see and send me back things I can use against Dick.” Harry laughed lightly and accepted a hug from Wally as well, the pair ignoring Barry’s muttered ‘how about no trouble at all?’.

The train whistle blew once more, a warning that the train was about to take off. Harry gripped his owl cage so that it wouldn’t swing and hopped onto the train, kicking his trunk further in as he went and turned to wave at the pair of speedsters as the train shuddered to a start.

Wally jogged after the train, acting as if he couldn’t keep up and Harry had to laugh at the sight, especially as just before he was out of sight he upgraded to dramatic loping. He pushed his trunk with his legs, thankful that running had given him muscles in that department, looking for an empty or near empty compartment. 

After searching for a moment he found one with one of the redheads he’d seen earlier. He looked like he was related to Wally and despite the fact that he had just seen the older teen, he missed him already. It was that, that lead Harry to decide that this was the perfect compartment to enter.

“All the other compartments I’ve seen are full, can I join you?” Harry asked as he slid open the door. The redhead looked up with trepidation but nodded once he saw Harry’s face, seemingly happy to see that it wasn’t who he thought it had been.

“Thank Merlin, I thought you were my brothers. Take a seat,” he invited, gesturing the seat across from him. Harry smiled and set his cage on one of the empty seats. He lifted his trunk up to his chest easily but wobbled when he tried to lift higher. The redhead jumped up to help him after he realized that the speedster was struggling and together the two managed to store it overhead.

“Thanks, man,” Harry said, wiping his sweaty hands on his jeans before holding out a hand in introduction, “I’m Harry, it’s nice to meet you.” The redhead grasped it cheerfully and gave it a shake.

“I’m Ron, Ron Weasley,” Ron introduced before falling back onto his previous seat. Harry took the one directly opposite of him and as they fell into a comfortable silence Harry took out his phone. Luckily it was still working- Zatanna said that it might not due to the way magic tended to interfere with electronics but it seemed her spell was holding up. If only he had managed to convince her to charm the laptop Uncle Barry had gotten him as well.

A new text message popped up as he flipped it open from Wally telling him to look outside. He turned towards the window curiously, and after a moment he saw Kid Flash run up alongside the train, throwing him a quick wave and a wink as he passed. Harry smiled to himself before sitting back down in his previous seat.

“What’s that?” Ron asked curiously and Harry blinked in surprise before remembering that magic didn’t normally allow cellphones to work. He tossed his phone to the redhead who caught with a practiced ease of someone who had things thrown at them a lot.

“It’s my cellphone.”

“Is that anything like a- like a fellytone? My dad goes on and on about them a lot- he’s obsessed with muggles,” Ron explained, looking slightly embarrassed at the mention of his dad but proud of remembering the term. Harry coughed lightly into his hand.

“I think you mean a telephone?” He asked with a small smile.

“Oh? Yeah that,” Ron’s ears turned as red as his hair and he looked back down at the phone, prying it open to inspect the screen with interest.

“It is,” Harry confirmed before asking a question of his own, “Are all your family wizards?” Harry was still rather new to magic that wasn’t Zatanna’s and it was weird to think of a whole society of wizards (despite the fact he was one himself).

“Er- I think so? I mean,” Ron paused from his inspection to shrugs at Harry, “My mom’s got a cousin who’s an accountant but no one ever talks about him.” He admitted easily before handing the phone back to Harry. “Are you Muggleborn then?”

“Ah, my parents were both magical but they died when I was a baby- I grew up with my relatives who don’t really like magic very much,” the speedster explained just as easily, trying to be nonchalant. Ron looked a little embarrassed about asking the question.

“I’m sorry, mate, that must really suck,” he said sympathetically to which Harry shrugged, scratching his forehead idly. The movement brought Ron’s eyes up to Harry’s forehead and they honed in on his scar.

“Is that-?” He breathed in shock and Harry winced, “You’re Harry Potter! That’s why your parents are dead!” Harry winced again, marveling at the lack of tact Ron possessed and how much it reminded him of a certain other redhead he was so fond of.

“Yes…” He trailed off, unsure what to say and Ron flushed red again, this time it crept down from his ears onto his neck and across his freckled cheeks. 

“Sorry,” he said, looking at his feet quickly before looking back up hopefully, “You must get that a lot.”

“Not really- I only just found out about it. My cousin won’t stop bringing it up actually. He’s been rather annoying about it, actually,” Harry admitted, rolling his eyes as he recalled Wally’s reaction to the whole thing (he found it quite funny until he said that at least they remembered his name properly- that shut Wally up).

“I can understand that- I have five older brothers,” Ron shared, nodding in sympathy at the thought of annoying older relatives. The speedster blinked in surprise.

“Five? Wow, what’s that like?” He asked eagerly, though he saw Wally constantly and considered him as more of a big brother figure than the cousins they pretended to be in public he couldn’t imagine living with the teen.

“Not fun,” the redhead admitted, picking at his frayed sweater, “I’ve got a lot to live up to being the sixth one in our family to go to Hogwarts. My oldest brothers, Bill and Charlie, have already graduated but Bill was Head Boy while he was there and Charlie was Quidditch captain. Now Percy is a prefect and despite the twins getting into trouble all the time people think their jokes are funny and they get good grades. Everyone expects me to do just as well but if I do then they would’ve done it first.” Ron said all of this rather quickly, without looking up at Harry and the speedster could tell he’d wanted to get it off his chest for a while. His heart went out to his classmate, knowing how hard it could be living up to someone older and better than you- all young heroes felt it at some point, knowing that someday they were expected to be as good as if not better than their mentors. It was hard to cope with sometimes.

He was about to say something that he hoped would be comforting but just then a cheerful older woman knocked on the door frame. “Anything from the trolley, dears?” She asked and Harry was on his feet faster than he really should if he wanted to keep his secret ID a secret. Ron’s ears turned pink again and muttered something about sandwiches. The speedster took a quick look at the cart and decided to get a decent amount of everything as the pancakes that Iris had made him about an hour before had worn off long ago.

Ron blinked in slight shock as Harry carried his rather large amount of candy and dumped it on the seat next to him. The speedster shrugged at him.

“I eat a lot,” he admitted, feeling a little embarrassed, “I have a hyperactive metabolism.” Ron blinked at him again. “I have to eat a lot or I pass out. You can have some if you like.”

“I have to admit- I never thought I’d meet someone who ate more than Ronnikins,” a redhead commented out of nowhere, having walked into the compartment without the two first years noticing. Another redhead identical to the one who spoke entered behind him causing Harry to start slightly.

“You know, Ronny, it’s rather rude of you to not have introduced us,” the second one said, sitting down next to Ron and throwing an arm around him. Ron tried to shrug it off but his older brother was quite obviously stronger than him.

“Careful, we might start to think you’re ashamed of us!”

“Oh, please, Fred, who would be ashamed to be related to this handsome face?”

“I don’t know George, but Ron’s never been one to have a lot of common sense,” Fred nudged Ron as he plopped down on the other side of him.

“Hey!” The youngest Weasley protested before finally shoving George’s arm off of him. “These are my twin brothers, Fred and George. It honestly doesn’t matter which is which because not even Mum can tell them apart.” 

“Rude, I’m Fred,” George introduced holding out his hand, “And he’s George.” Harry took his hand warily.

“But I thought it was the other way around?” Fred grabbed his other hand to shake it with a laugh.

“I like this one George, he’s sharp. Normally only Gin notices that,” the twin explained as he enthusiastically shook Harry’s hand, not seeming to care that he’d been called out.

“Gin?”

“Our little sister,” Ron butted in, not wanting the twins to say anything else in fear they might embarrass him, “She’s coming to Hogwarts next year.”

“She was pretty mad this morning knowing we were going to leave her alone with Mum and Dad, of course she cried when we actually left but she nearly punched me when I went to wake her up,” George shared with a grin tossed to his brother.

“I didn’t catch your name, by the way,” Fred turned back to Harry curiously.

“Harry Potter,” he introduced, deciding he might as well just tell them and get it out of the way.

“Are you really?”

“I think he is- he has the scar.”

“Wicked.”

“Do you remember what You-Know-Who looks like?” Fred asked, leaning forward curiously. George and Ron looked curious as well though Ron tried to hide it unsuccessfully.

“I don’t remember anything except for a lot of green light,” Harry admitted, leaning back into his seat feeling a bit intimidated by the attention.

“Wicked,” Fred repeated, sharing a grin with his brother behind Ron’s head before standing up. “Well, I think we’ll be on our way. We were just checking to make sure dear Ronnikins wasn’t hiding from us.”

“Lee’s supposedly got a tarantula with him we want to check out,” George explained excitedly.

“Want to come with, Ron?” Fred asked, turning to his younger brother with a wide grin. Ron glared back and made a rude gesture. “You could’ve just said no.” He shrugged, seemingly unfazed.

“See ya, Potter,” George called out as he exited the compartment, Fred right behind him. Harry looked at Ron curiously feeling a little overwhelmed.

“I hate spiders,” Ron shuddered for an explanation. “Sorry about them, they can be a bit much.”

“It’s fine,” Harry waved his hand as he tore open a chocolate frog with the other. To his surprise it jumped out of the package and it was really only due to his super speed that he managed to catch it before it jumped into the abyss. “It moved!”

“It’s enchanted to do that, it’s not a real frog,” Ron assured him, seeing the put out look on Harry’s face. “The card’s the best part though- you can collect them! I’m really only missing Agrippa and Ptolemy.” 

Harry checked the card to see a slim older witch staring back at him. The name Sileas was emblazoned in golden ink beneath her picture along with the words ‘Scientist’ and ‘19th Century’. When he flipped it over, instead of a flashy logo like many trading cards, there was another paragraph in the same golden ink and curvy writing stating ‘Known for her discoveries on the capabilities of accidental magic and the one who coined the term Anomaly. She was very enthusiastic about muggle science and preferred to use the title of Scientist rather than a magical equivalent.’ 

“Sileas, that’s a nice card to start off with- and it’s pretty rare,” Ron observed in an approving voice, “Can you toss me one? Hopefully I’ll get Agrippa.” Harry chucked one at him and the redhead caught it just as easily as the phone. The speedster was about to drop the card next to him when he noticed that the witch had disappeared from her frame.

“She’s gone!” 

“You can’t expect them to hang all day, can you?” Ron responded distractedly, letting out a disappointed breath when he looked at the card in his chocolate card pack. Harry shook his head and realized he was just going to have to get used to strange things happening like this. He’d just have to approach it as if Jason or Dick had rigged everything like they had last April Fools’ Day at the Mountain. 

The rest of the trip passed relatively calmly, with the exception of the boy with the toad Wally had almost knocked over coming in toadless and then later a rather talkative girl looking for the same toad. Harry was rather happy to be rid of her as she loudly told him all the things she had read about him and left in a whirl of her skirt. The real drama happened when a pale blond that Harry recalled seeing in Diagon Alley entered the carriage with his two goons. 

“Rumor on the train is that Harry Potter is sitting in this compartment,” the pale boy said, giving Harry a look over with piercing gray eyes, “I’m assuming it’s you, as it obviously isn’t the Weasel over there.” He jabbed a finger at Ron lazily and he bristled.

“It’s Weasley, and I really don’t think it’s any of your business,” Harry replied, moving forward on his sit in preparation to get up. The blond raised an eyebrow and pursed his lips as pink spread across his cheeks.

“I’d be careful if I were you Potter, don’t want to get ahead of yourself,” he said about to turn away before looking back at Harry, “And the name’s Draco Malfoy, since you didn’t ask.”

“You weren’t polite enough to offer,” the speedster retorted ignoring the strange wording of the threat as Draco’s cheeks turned pinker. He turned away ready to leave with his dignity mostly intact when Crabbe let out a yell. The large first year shook out his hand angrily as Ron grabbed his rat, Scabbers, from where he had landed on the floor. It seemed Crabbe had tried to grab one of the many sweets still surprisingly sitting on the seat, and Scabbers, who had been removed from Ron’s pocket earlier, had bitten him.

“Crabbe! Goyle! It’s time to go!” Draco barked at them, and stalked away without waiting to see if they followed. Goyle left with a huff and Crabbe glared before following behind the other two, slamming the door so hard the glass rattled on his way out.

“Have you met Malfoy before?” Harry asked as he sank back into his seat. Ron huffed and stroked Scabbers (who it seemed had fallen back asleep the crazy rat).

“I’ve heard of his family,” the redhead muttered, “The family were supporters of You-Know-Who who said they’d been bewitched into serving him. My dad doesn’t believe it. Says that Malfoy doesn’t need an excuse to go Dark.” He glared through the closed door to see the girl from earlier peeking through with a stern frown. “What?” He yelled back, gesturing with his arms for her to shoo. The bushy haired girl huffed and turned her nose up before flouncing down the corridor with the shy boy trailing after her. “She’s crazy.”

“We’d better get changed,” Harry commented as he looked out the window, hoping he would see another glance of Wally or Barry in full uniform. He was suddenly missing them after all the chaos that had already gone down in the hours they’d been on the train. “It’s getting dark.”

The two changed and waited for the train to stop as the sky continued to darken. Harry polished off the rest of the candy easily and was ready for the dinner by the time they pulled into the station. He greeted Hagrid with a smile, happy to recognize someone he actually liked. He had enjoyed his company as the man was able to put up with him and Wally as they explored Diagon Alley (and he knew Barry was happy to have a second person to rein the young speedsters in).

The eager first years were led through the darkness to the edge of a vast lake where a bunch of small boats were stationed. Harry jumped in one a bit too eagerly, rocking the boat in the process, and was followed by Ron, the shy boy (who apparently not only hadn’t found his toad yet but also wasn’t too keen on how dark the water was), and the bushy haired girl. Ron groaned quietly to Harry and the girl heard him, shooting him a glare.

Before any confrontation could happen though, the boats started moving and Harry found himself thanking his lucky stars. They were starting to remind him of Wally and Artemis, and if the girl was anything like Artemis then Ron might end up with a broken nose soon enough. 

All thoughts on his pseudo cousin and his friends were driven from his mind as Hogwarts, which had been too far to see from the shore (plus there it was foggy), came fully into view. It was a magnificent castle standing on a cliff on the edge of the lake. The windows glowed in the darkness and Harry found himself overflowing with wonder and excitement. Once out of the boats and actually in the castle (which in some ways was even more magnificent on in the inside), they were met with a stern woman in a chamber just outside a noisy hall. 

“I am Professor McGonagall,” the woman introduced, peering through her glasses at each of them searchingly. Many shrank beneath her eyes and huddled into each other- Harry was reminded very much of Batman. “And Welcome to Hogwarts. The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you points, while any rule-breaking will lose house points. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves as much as you can while you are waiting.” She eyed Harry’s windswept hair, which while it was typically messy, always rose to new heights after he’d been running if he didn’t fix it. Her gaze swept over several others as well and many people fidgeted with their robes in response. “I shall return for you when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.” The professor turned on her heel and exited the chamber back into the hall.

“Sorted in front of the whole school?” Harry asked aloud, his stomach dropping at the thought. “How exactly do we get sorted?” Ron shrugged, looking slightly queasy as well.

“A test or something, I think. Fred said it hurt a lot but I think he was joking, I mean, you met my brothers.” Harry nodded in agreement but found that it didn’t make him feel any better.

“And the houses? I mean when I met Hagrid to get my school supplies he mentioned it but I don’t really know the difference.”

“I keep forgetting that you’re new to this,” Ron said, blinking in surprise, “Well Gryffindor is for the brave and noble- my whole family is in that house- Ravenclaw is for the smart ones, Hufflepuff is for the friendly, and Slytherin is supposed to be ‘sly and cunning’ which is essentially code for a bunch of gits.” The redhead relaxed as he talked, happy to have something else to focus on aside from the impending test. Harry wasn’t as lucky- with the attention span he had he could see everyone around him becoming as anxious as he felt and that wasn’t good for his nerves.

Harry was about to ask another question in his effort to take his mind off of the matter when someone swore behind him. He turned around to see several translucent people fading in through the walls. Someone else screamed and he felt the shy boy with the toad nearly fall into him. At first he thought that they were Martians before realizing they never solidified. Ghosts? This place was getting weirder by the second and that’s saying something coming for a metahuman. 

He didn’t really pay any attention as the ghosts introduced themselves instead bouncing in place and wishing that Professor McGonagall wasn’t taking so long. He briefly wondered how Wally was going to explain ghosts scientifically, as he’d spent half the time they were in the wizarding world rationalizing everything (the only reason Harry had been spared in the train station was due to Barry having warned the redhead off of it the day before).

After an entirely too long span of time (though it was only minutes- it seemed his speed was catching up to him after the long day and lack of food) Professor McGonagall reentered the chamber to beckon them inside. They formed a line behind her at her request and Harry tried to ignore the nerves exploding inside of him. 

He heard gasps around him as the doors opened for them and they were able to actually see into the hall. Candles floated above the heads of the students (he hoped wax wouldn’t drip onto their food- or their heads) and the ceiling looked as if it opened up to the sky, though after a moment of looking he could see the rafters painted with starlight. 

Professor McGonagall placed a stool and hat at the front of the hall and whispers broke out once more throughout the first years. Almost as soon as the teacher stepped away, the hat opened a rip in the front of it and started to sing about the Founders and how it would sort the students. Harry blinked in surprise and found that compared to what he’d feared he’d have to do (fighting a dragon? Pulling a sword from a stone?) it was a bit of a letdown though he didn’t fancy a mind reading hat either- it reminded him too much of Doctor Fate’s helmet and he knew how that one ended.

“So we have to try on a hat? I’m going to kill Fred he was going on about having to fight a troll,” Ron muttered beside Harry. The speedster thought that a troll might have been preferable to a psychic hat, at least the troll wouldn’t read his mind and he’s fought worse things than a troll.

Professor McGonagall stepped to the front again unfurling a thick scroll, “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.” She gestured slightly behind her. “Abbott, Hannah!” 

A small blonde girl with pigtails walked nervously up to the stool. She placed the hat on her head and it slipped down over her eyes. The hall was quiet and everything went still (except for Harry tapping his foot) as they collectively held their breath 1until the hat opened its ripped mouth to yell ‘Hufflepuff!’.

Professor McGonagall called another name as one of the tables burst into cheers and another first year went up. The cycle repeated. The bushy haired girl (Hermione the professor had said) went to Gryffindor much to Ron’s disappointment along with the shy boy who was named Neville. Draco and his friends all went to Slytherin, though Draco looked slightly shaken up after his minute under the hat. He kept shooting it glances over his shoulder from a table full of green tied students.

“Potter, Harry,” Professor McGonagall called out, her eyebrow rising slightly in curiosity but otherwise there was no other visual reaction to show she had recognized his name. Harry took a deep breath and avoided all the eyes that swung to look at him as he walked up to the stool. Whispers broke out around him and he suddenly wished he had his cowl on- anything would be better than the way he was at that moment. The whole situation was filling him with dread.

He hoisted himself onto the stool, a little embarrassed when his feet only barely touched the ground. The professor placed the dirty old hat on his head and it fell over his eyes, obscuring his vision of the hall the same way they had on Hannah. Well there was the cowl he was wishing for.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? Another Anomaly, eh? And a trained one at that,” a voice whispered, it wasn’t really in his ear- it was surrounding him inside his head. It echoed of the same psychic link that M’gann and Martian Manhunter used. He could feel the interest and amusement of the hat enfold him and he winced slightly. Great now the hat had feelings and a personality, this was turning out to be way too much like Doctor Fate’s helmet for his liking. And what was an Anomaly? He’d wondered that earlier. “Don’t worry child, my only goal here is to sort you into your proper house- not find a host body.”

Harry wasn’t comforted in the slightest. The hat chuckled- or what he assumed to be the equivalent as the hat’s amusement tickled the corner of his mind.

“You have a keen mind, one of science and curiosity, though you don’t revel in it like your cousin does.” The hat began, jumping into his analysis of the child, “You have an interesting thirst to prove yourself, a wish to make a name for yourself in the heroing world just like your mentor. But where to put you?” Harry couldn’t help but let his thoughts stray to the table doused in red, one of courage, justice, everything the Flash stood for and everything Whiplash tried to stand for.

“Gryffindor? Are you sure? Not Slytherin, which could surely help you on your way to greatness? Well, if you’re sure, GRYFFINDOR!” The last word was not only shouted in his mind but to the whole hall and the table in red burst into applause. Harry was embarrassed to find that the screams had been the loudest they had been all night and Ron’s brothers were loudly proclaiming that they ‘got Potter’.   
The speedster found a seat between Neville and Ron’s oldest brother, who patted him on the back in congratulations. He got a smile from Neville as well and Harry noticed for the first time the dirt on the boy’s face and under his fingernails. He returned the smile and turned to find that he had missed several people and it was finally time for Ron to be sorted.

The redhead was quickly shuffled off to the Gryffindor table to his relief and Harry cheered loudly as he sat across from him. Harry didn’t really pay attention to the last person being sorted and nearly groaned when the Headmaster stood up to give a speech. He could feel his stomach growling and he wished he’d remembered to throw some extra food in his trunk like Iris had told him to earlier. 

“Welcome!” The headmaster, Dumbledore if Harry recalled correctly from his letter, “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!” He sat back down in his seat with a flourish as the students clapped and cheered.

“Is he kind of crazy?” Harry asked the table at large. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be taking that seriously or what.

“Crazy?” Percy responded, bringing the attention of the surrounding first years to him, “He’s genius! Best wizard of the century! But yes he is. Potatoes, Harry?”

Harry blinked in surprise. He’d never seen something so beautiful in his life. The amount of food that was spread out in front of him looked like it was enough to feed the whole Flash family. Wally was going to be so jealous when he told him.

The speedster leapt into the food with a gusto that surprised even Ron but Harry couldn’t bring himself to care. And for several long moments he ignored all the chatter behind him as he filled up his plate and sampled all the different foods. Some were things he was used to from home but some were also rather strange, but in true Flash family fashion Harry didn’t mind trying new things. He could tell he was going to like it here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several lines and speeches are taken verbatim from chapters 6 and 7 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I make no claim on them.


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snape really isn't Harry's favorite teacher and Harry is pretty sure he just met his new best friend.

Harry’s first week at Hogwarts was about as normal as one could expect for a preteen with super speed in a school full of wizards- which is to say it wasn’t normal in the slightest. Between one teacher who could turn into a cat and another who was actually dead (which was unfortunately the most interesting thing about his class), plants who fought back, and staircases that randomly decided to change direction. It was all rather overwhelming if he was being honest.

Or at least that’s what he was going to tell Iris and Barry when they inevitably scolded him for taking so long to write them a letter. 

It was a lot to take in though. Time spent with Wally (and the Bats as well) had him speed reading his books in order to be prepared. But even reading each book front to back before each class couldn’t have prepared him for learning magic. It was everything and nothing like Zatanna had described to him.

Transfiguration and Charms were both kind of fun. He honestly wasn’t the best at either (that title went to Hermione Granger and honestly Harry didn’t mind letting her have it- she could be scary when she thought she wasn’t winning) but he was okay and his teachers were fair as long as he tried. He was glad, however, that super speed had let him learn the layout of the castle quickly. Professor McGonagall, who was apparently his head of house, threatened to prove her magical prowess when Neville Longbottom was late to class. Herbology was just like gardening at home minus Aunt Petunia yelling at him- but that was substituted by the fact the plants liked to bite. History of Magic made him sleepy and Defense Against the Dark Arts was a joke. He’d seen scarier things in Wally’s closet and Professor Quirrell was about as competent as a Bat in the kitchen. The only class he hadn’t had yet was Potions.  
Harry had to admit, he was really looking forward to potions. It could easily become his favorite class, if it was anything like the bubbling experiments that Wally loved to perform in secret with the youngest speedster as his doting assistant or even if it was like helping Iris with cooking the many meals it took to feed a speedster (or three or four). 

That was, until he started on the descent into the dungeons where potions class was apparently held. He really wasn’t digging the torture chamber vibe he was getting from the place and it was nothing like the clean labs in which he preferred to help Wally with his experiments.

When their professor entered the muggy classroom with his robes billowing behind him Harry was vaguely reminded of Batman, though this professor was significantly less impressive than the Caped Crusader. Professor Snape (and what a name that was) started off the class by taking role in a quiet voice that demanded attention and silence. When he came to Harry’s name he quirked an eyebrow.  
“Harry Potter,” he called out contemplatively, “Our new – celebrity.” The word rolled off his tongue with barely hidden contempt and a sneer. Harry quickly realized this man was nothing like Batman and he suddenly got a really bad feeling about this whole ordeal. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands and the speedster could see the beginnings of a smirk crawl across his face.

Snape continued with roll, finishing quickly and efficiently before setting it down and turning to face the class with sharp eyes and a sharper tone. 

“You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,” he began in a whisper. His tone commanded that one listen to it and the first years were the quietest they’d been since Professor McGonagall’s class. “As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses…I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even put a stopper on death – if you aren’t as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

Silence continued after his speech. Harry shared an incredulous look with Ron while Neville groaned in the background. His classmates shifted uneasily around him as Snape’s eyes searched the room, before falling on him.

“Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?” The potions professor snapped. Harry blinked and cast his mind back to the books he read before class that morning.

“Wasn’t that part of some kind of sleeping potion?” He asked in return, searching for the name but not remembering properly. Professor Snape quirked his eyebrow once more and pursed his lips. Harry wasn’t sure if that was in acceptance or disdain for not remembering the exact name. Hermione, whose hand had flown into the air at a speed that had impressed even him, waved her arm around in an effort to get called on.

“Where would you look if I told you to find a bezoar?” The teacher asked again and Harry’s stomach swooped as he knew that he knew this one. It was something he and Wally had been laughing about when he first got his books.

“In the stomach of a goat, sir,” he responded with a grin, nearly forgetting to tack on the ‘sir’. Professor Snape’s eyebrows rose higher as Hermione’s hand flopped audibly back onto the desk. 

“What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?” He asked, the words curling sinisterly in his mouth. Harry opened his mouth to answer then stopped, was this some sort of trick question? He peered around at his classmates. Ron looked completely lost, Hermione had stood up in hopes of being called on, and Neville had a considering look on his face. 

Before he turned back to answer Snape, his eyes caught Draco’s and he froze momentarily. They kept eye contact for less than a second before Draco nodded slightly. Harry wasn’t exactly sure what he was nodding for but he suddenly felt more confident in his answer.

“Aren’t they the same thing?” The speedster answered, posing it as a question though he was much surer of this answer than the first. The look Snape was giving him was throwing him off. The professor stared at him for a moment more and the class was silent.

“At least one of you saw fit to open a book before you came to class,” Snape sneered, throwing the young Gryffindor an unreadable look before turning to address the class at large. “Asphodel and wormwood do make a sleeping potion when combined, a rather powerful one called the Draught of Living Death. Bezoars are found in the stomach of a goat and will save you from most poisons. Wolfsbane and monkshood are indeed the same plant and also goes by the name aconite. Well? Why aren’t you copying this all down?”

The class scrambled to find quills and parchment and Harry felt like he had just barely dodged a bullet of some sort. Class continued from there and despite Snape’s perpetually foul mood (as well as disposition) Harry found he was enjoying himself. His potion wasn’t perfect, but he found that the art of potion making was a healthy mix of cooking and chemistry so he figured he’d get the hang of it soon enough. 

Harry may have had a decent success with potion making but his classmates were not so lucky. He had managed to keep Ron from screwing up their potion, but Neville had somehow managed to melt another Gryffindor’s cauldron into a twist of metal. Snape swooped over in a rage at the sight and loomed over the cowering first year.

“Idiot boy!” He snarled as he waved his wand, clearing away potion that seeped from the table and had been eating at people’s shoes. “I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?” Neville had been drenched by the potion, and he was trembling in terror and pain as boils popped all over his skin. The Gryffindor merely whimpered in response, looking a sorry sight in his normal layer of dirt as well as potion and boils. Snape growled in the back of his throat and ordered Seamus to take him to the Hospital Wing before turning on Harry and Ron, who had been watching from nearby.

“You – Potter – why didn’t you tell him not to add the quills? You’ve just lost a point for Gryffindor.” Harry’s jaw dropped and he couldn’t stop himself from bristling defensively.

“He wasn’t my partner! Why am I getting scolded?” He protested, which was apparently the wrong thing to do as Snape’s face crumpled angrily before becoming passive.

“That’s another point you’ve just lost, Potter,” the professor spat out before turning on his heel and stalking back to the front of the classroom. Harry opened his mouth to say something again as he made to stand up but Ron slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him back into his seat before he could do anything.

“Don’t push it,” Ron muttered, “The twins say that Snape can get really nasty.”

“More nasty than he and his hair already are?” The speedster scowled, pushing Ron off of him and slumping in his seat. The redhead just shrugged in response, not knowing what to tell his friend. He was still stewing when they were climbing back into sunlight an hour later, leaving the room with a decent potion but down several points for Gryffindor.

The rest of the week as well as the weekend were pretty uneventful compared to Potions class, aside from tea with Hagrid (he was surprised to find out that when he’d been in Diagon Alley something had been stolen from Gringotts). Things didn’t get interesting again until flying lessons the following Wednesday where Neville sprained his wrist and Draco decided to stir up trouble (which seemed to be becoming a trend). Draco stole the other first year’s trinket and took off with it. 

Even out of costume Harry couldn’t ignore the situation and found out he was quite adept at flying. It honestly felt like he was running though his feet weren’t touching the ground. The wind blowing through his hair as he went into a dive was amazing and Harry hadn’t really had the chance to just run since he’d gotten to Hogwarts.

The biggest surprise was that Professor McGonagall- who apparently was a wizarding sports freak- thought he was good enough for the Quidditch team. She’d come out of nowhere to recruit him and everything happened so quickly that after he’d met the captain and cemented his place on the team he was left in the middle of the hallway with Neville’s rememberall still clutched in his hand.

Shaking his head at the events of the day, he decided that before anything else he had better return the rememberall to his classmate. Harry sped up the stairs and into the portrait past a sleepy upper classman as she exited the portrait hole. The first years had claimed a table and an armchair in one of the corners. Harry made a beeline to the gathered first years and frowned when he realized that Neville wasn’t sitting among them. Seamus looked up from where he was building a tower of pencils to smile widely at Harry.

“That was some flying you did out there!” He crowed, winking at the speedster. Harry flashed an embarrassed but pleased grin back.

“Thanks, man,” he nodded, “Have any of you guys seen Neville? I wanted to give him back his rememberall.” Parvati and Lavender ignored him in favor of pressing their heads together closer than before and increasing their whispering. Dean shrugged helplessly at him while Seamus frowned.

“Sorry, mate, we haven’t seen him since flying lessons,” he told the speedster. Harry sighed and thanked them. He was about to go ask some of the upper years but before he could even turn away Parvati’s voice stopped him.

“Why do you say ‘man’ instead of mate?” She asked him, imitating his accent badly and Lavender nudged her. Harry blinked at her and shrugged.

“I spend a lot of time with my aunt and uncle who live in America,” he told them warily as the two exchanged eager glances.

“So that is an American accent we here,” Lavender proclaimed barely holding back a squeal, clapping her hands together.

“Kinda, yeah,” Harry allowed, taking a step back at the hungry stares he wasn’t accustomed to seeing on his classmates’ faces. 

“Say something American,” Parvati egged on and he stared at her in confusion. 

“Um…” He trailed off, unsure of what to say as he reached up to scratch his scar. The two girls continued to stare at him but he was saved from having to respond by the Twins jumping over the couch and throwing their arms around him.

“Well, hello, Potter,” one twin greeted as they guided Harry towards the portrait hole.

“We hear you’re looking for a certain missing first year.”

“I think we can help you there.”

“Step into our office.”

Harry rolled his eyes but let himself be guided into the hallway, hoping that whatever it was the Twins wanted it wasn’t going to end up with him dead or in detention. The pair honestly reminded him of Wally and Dick when they got a crazy idea into their heads, which never ended well for anyone. They pulled him away from the Fat Lady, who was staring after them curiously and into a dark corner.

“First off, we saw the dumpy kid with the toad head towards the green houses about half an hour ago, he’s probably still there,” the first twin began, finally letting go of the speedster.

“That’s not what we’re concerned about though,” the other twin informed him gravely, though a grin was threatening to burst onto his face.

“Fred and I just talked to Oliver,” George revealed, “He said you’re our new seeker.”

“He was practically skipping, wasn’t he, George?”

“Nearly crying for joy, really.”

“You must be really good, Harry, if the Cap was that happy.”

“We’re on the team as well- beaters.”

“We’re going to win this year for sure!”

Harry couldn’t get in a word edgewise though he tried several times. Eventually he gave up and just nodded in agreement, sharing their excitement about the upcoming season. Even with super speed he felt overwhelmed by how fast they talked.

“Anyway, we’ve got to go, Lee reckons he’s found another passage out of the school,” Fred waved and started to back out of the alcove.

“I bet it’s the one behind the statue of George the Smarmy we found ages ago,” George nudged Fred before turning and waving as well, 

“Seeya, Harry!”

The twins turned and strolled away, quickly disappearing around the corner. Harry shook his head- he would never really understand the twins, he could already tell. He shrugged to himself and checked over his shoulder before taking off down the hallway. After a week and a half he was able to easily find his way down to the main hall and avoid anyone in the hallway. In no time at all he found himself on the ground floor and he walked casually through the front doors.

Once outside, he ran all the way to the green houses and tripped to a stop in front of the one open door. Well, at least it was easy to see which door Neville had gone through. That door led to greenhouse two, a step up from the one their Herbology class was working in and said to be quite a bit more dangerous. Harry has had enough encounters with ravenous man eating plants to be more than a little wary about entering the greenhouse.

There were vines creeping over every surface from the floors to the tables and up the glass walls, partially obscuring the outside world from view and dirtying the glass. The plants rustled menacingly in a nonexistent breeze as he walked down the rows, keeping his eyes peeled for both Neville and any vines that might try to grab him.

As he got deeper into the greenhouse- which seemed to go on forever- the leaves and vines thickened, the plants growing wilder and closer together the farther away he got from the door. Harry was starting to get a little freaked out but steeled himself. Secretly he told himself that Uncle Barry would have been fine and would have kept going (though he wasn’t so sure about Wally to be honest but that was a whole different ballpark). 

Finally, after what felt like hours but what was most likely only a few minutes, the speedster saw the back of Neville’s head nestled among the plants. He was about to call out to his classmate when one of the plants leaned down towards the other boy. Neville turned and smiled at the plant. Harry cocked his head to the side.

There was something familiar about the way the plants were moving around his fellow Gryffindor. It was weird and entirely too controlled. Harry blinked when he placed it.

Neville was controlling the plants.

“Holy crap,” Harry breathed. Neville spun around and the vines at Harry’s feet shuddered. The surrounding vines and leaves above him flew out and grabbed him as well as his feet, coming at him so suddenly he didn’t think in time for him to run. Though he didn’t think that would’ve helped much anyway. He was lifted into the air, but was quickly dropped again with a loud thump as Neville ran over to him. Before he could say anything however, the other boy started babbling.

“I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to but you startled me and- oh Merlin. You saw, you saw. Please don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to be made fun of even more than I already do.” Harry blinked again, vaguely impressed with the speed of his speech. He began wondering if that was a magical thing, being able to talk almost as fast as a speedster but realized that was something he should probably think about later.

“Neville!” The speedster interrupted finally, “It’s fine, I’m not going to tell anyone.” He assured the panicking first year.

“R-really?” Neville asked hopefully.

“Yeah! I think it’s awesome actually. Have you always been able to do that? How powerful are you? Can you control all plants? Do the   
plants talk to you?” Harry began questioning, his excitement growing. Finding another super powered teen in Hogwarts was like Christmas really. He wasn’t the only weird one here. Unfortunately, his excitement had caused his talking to speed up and Neville was blinking in shock, a little overwhelmed. “Sorry, I got a little ahead of myself.” He looked down at his feet and cleared his throat.

“You really don’t think I’m weird?” Neville asked shyly. Harry frowned at the other boy. He recognized that line of thinking.

“Everyone is a little bit weird. That’s what makes us awesome.” He said with a small smile, remembering Wally telling him that nearly 2 years before, and Neville froze for a moment. Then his lip started trembling and Harry realized that the other boy was blinking back tears. Internally he started freaking out, unsure of what to do and settled for patting his shoulder consolingly if not a bit awkwardly.

“You really think that?” Neville said once he managed to rein in his tears.

“Of course!” Harry practically yelled, “Here watch this.” He turned away from the other first year and called over his shoulder. “But please keep your plants under control.” Neville muttered an affirmation but it sounded confused. Harry ran forward, not so fast that he’d trip over the plants but enough that the rows of pots blurred into smears of green and he himself had to be a black blob. He hit one end of the rows and turned back around, stumbling to a stop a few feet in front of his gaping classmate.

“You-you-” Neville stuttered and Harry scratched his scar with a sheepish grin. 

“Yeah, I can go faster actually but I didn’t want to crash into something- this house is made of glass,” he explained, shifting as he suddenly became overwhelmed with self-consciousness of his own. 

“How did you get your…” Neville trailed off.

“Powers? I was running from my cousin- we don’t exactly get along. Suddenly I was practically going the speed of sound and I ended up in Scotland, you?” The speedster shrugged nonchalantly, gaining a bit of confidence as the other boy grew less nervous.

“My family thought I was a squib- that I didn’t have magic- for the longest time. My Uncle Algie had been dangling me off the balcony by my ankles trying to scare it out of me when he dropped me. The plants grabbed me before I could hit the ground,” Neville looked at his toes as he scuffed the ground in embarrassment.

“That’s some pretty awesome accidental magic then, yeah? Bet they were impressed,” Harry encouraged, smiling widely at the other boy when he quickly looked up at him. 

“Yeah, I guess they were,” Neville grinned tentatively back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Several lines and speeches are taken verbatim or paraphrased from chapters 8 and 9 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I make no claim on them.


	4. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason has an unhealthy interest in giant man-eating spiders and even with his mentor there Harry can't seem to avoid near-death experiences, especially on the Quidditch Pitch.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Jason waved his hands around and nearly smacking Harry before dropping his controller in his lap, “You’re telling me that a freaking troll broke into your school? And they actually sent the students who lived in the dungeons back to the dungeons despite that being where they thought the troll was?”

“Yup,” Harry deadpanned dropping his own controller into his lap and leaning back to cross his arms behind his head. It had been several months since he first started at Hogwarts and he honestly felt as if there had never been a single calm and normal day at that school. So he found himself hiding out in the dark corners of Wayne Manor with Jason one Saturday afternoon in November to take a break from it all.

The speedster had only just managed to figure out how to get out of the castle walls (without having to resort to running through the Forbidden Forest) about a week prior. As curious as he was, he didn’t really want to run through a deadly forest unless he actually had a good reason to. Or until he at least had proper back up. Luckily, the Weasley Twins were more than happy to help out their favorite first year (their words) and show him a passageway out of Hogwarts, coincidentally behind good ole George the Smarmy.

“Not really surprising though,” Harry continues, “Considering that our grounds are right next to a forest that supposedly has giant man eating spiders in it and not to mention there is a freaking three headed dog on the third floor for no apparent reason. Well, Hermione thinks it’s guarding something but still, it’s a freaking school what would you be guarding in a school?”

“Hermione is the smart chick right? The one you hated but now are best buddies with?” The Boy Wonder asked.

“Something like that,” he allowed as he crossed his arms sulkily at the other boy’s tone.

“Hey, there’s nothing like bonding over nearly getting your ass kicked,” Jason mused aloud, nudging his best friend with a wide grin. Harry pouted at him and nudged back, trying to catch him in the stomach. The Boy Wonder dodged the limb easily and Harry went from pouting to glaring.

“I couldn’t exactly use super speed in front of a bunch of civilians, now could I? Not even ones who wave wands around instead of doing math homework, so I had to improvise,” he huffed, crossing his arms and propping his feet on the edge of the table.

“Jumping on a troll that was like five times your size is what you call improvising? I know speedsters are impulsive but goddammit. What were you trying to do, strangle it?” The Bat asked incredulously. Harry coughed into his hand suddenly embarrassed. 

“No,” he started, refusing to look at Jason, “Actually, I ended up shoving my wand up his nose.” Jason blinked owlishly before bursting into laughter. He gripped his stomach and nearly fell forward off of the couch.

“Your fucking method of attack was shoving a stick up its nose?” He asked between gasps of laughter. He tried to calm himself but was failing miserably. Harry shoved him onto the ground fully, still refusing to look him in the eye.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!”

“All in the name of science, amiright?” Jason nudged Harry again, in the leg this time, as he climbed back onto the couch, having finally managed to catch his breath.

“There are a lot of things I’ll mess with in the name of science but troll snot is not one of them,” the wizard shuddered, wiping his hands on his pants in memory of the disgusting substance. “At least I didn’t take on the three headed dog we found.”

“There’s a Cerberus in your school as well? What kinda school is this- a zoo?” Jason exclaimed, jerking his head back in surprise. He’d been more focused on the forest and Hermione when the speedster had brought it up before. Harry shrugged helplessly.

“We have a giant squid in the lake as well-”

“The squid is in the lake?” The speedster ignored the interruption and continued on.

“-but that isn’t the point. The dog was standing on a trap door apparently which is why Hermione thinks it was place there to guard something. I almost didn’t notice it but…” Harry trailed off, not keen to share that he slipped on his robes (those things were entirely too long is his opinion, he needed to get them short enough to run in or something) and it was only when he was on the ground that he noticed the door beneath the dog’s feet. 

“Okay, a three headed guard dog is weird, but can we go back to how there’s a squid in the lake. Don’t squid live in the ocean? Like in saltwater?” Jason waved his hands at Harry and the speedster shrugged.

“It’s a school for learning magic, Jason, all sorts of weird stuff happens there. And I used to think visiting the Watchtower was a weird experience,” the Gryffindor slumped back onto the couch and pulled his legs up. At least at the Watchtower things sort of made sense, he mused. “Oh, and get this, when the teachers found us after we knocked out the troll, Snape-”

“The greasy Batman wannabe?” Jason jumped in and Harry started laughing hard. It took him a few minutes to be able to continue.  
“Yeah,” he chuckled, “Him, well he had this huge bite mark on his leg- and it sure as heck wasn’t from the troll.” The Boy Wonder scratched his cheek while his face pinched up in thought.

“Any idea what the pooch is guarding?”

“Nope, though you’d think it’s something important if its guard has three heads. Which brings us back to why the heck is it in a school?”  
“Hmm,” Jason hummed in agreement before sighing loudly. He flopped down onto Harry, causing the younger boy to let go of his legs so Jason could rest his head in the boy’s lap. “I wish I was there. It would be a lot more interesting than what’s been going on here.” He groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes.

“You live in one of the most crime ridden towns in the world and there is nothing interesting going on?” Harry asked amused with a teasing grin growing on his face. Jason huffed up at him.

“It’s not like I get to go on patrol every night and there haven’t been any big Arkham breakouts in a while. The Robin title is technically still Dick’s and Boss-Man doesn’t seem to think I have enough training yet,” he scoffed, “There hasn’t been any good crises lately either. Seems like all the fun is in the magical world.”

“Wally said it’d been strangely quiet lately,” Harry frowned. It was weird that there hadn’t been anything really major in any of the big cities. No worldwide plots or villainous organizations staging mass attacks. The whole thing felt too much like the calm before the storm and it made his stomach churn with dread.

“There hasn’t really been anything big since the Light’s attack last year,” Dick pointed out, entering the room suddenly. Harry jumped not having expected the older hero’s interruption but Jason just stuck his tongue out at his older brother. “That’s probably the most worrying thing about it. Bruce is afraid they’re biding their time and are going to come back stronger than before.”

“Hey, Dick,” Harry greeted the teen with a wave and Dick ruffled his hair in response. “Hey! My hair is messy enough without you messing it up.”

“Not feeling the aster, I take it,” the teen snickered and a groan rose from the wizard’s lap. 

“One day Shakespeare is going to rise from the grave and punch you in the face,” Jason grumbled sitting up to get a better look at his brother.

“Definitely not feeling the aster then,” Dick grinned widely at the other Robin, “And Shakespeare was practically the inventor of modern English coming up with hundreds of new words and phrases that we now use today. I think he’d shake my hand, happy to find a fellow linguistic innovator.”

“You are so full of shit you’re practically one of the Flash’s,” Jason deadpanned.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Harry exclaimed feeling highly offended.

“You’ve met Wally and Barry, right?” Dick raised an eyebrow at him.

“You’ve met yourself, right?” Jason scoffed.

“So much for inviting you to my Quidditch match next week…” Harry trailed off, turning away from the two vigilantes to cross his arms and sulk. They shared an interested glance before Jason prodded Harry’s side.

“That’s the flying thing right? Will your school even let us come?” The younger Boy Wonder prodded and his best friend gave him a look.

“Of course not, but when have rules ever stopped either of you? Wally already agreed to watch but Uncle Barry said he didn’t think he could get off work…” Harry trailed off again though this time it was from disappointment rather than him toying with the acrobats.

“I can get him out of work no sweat,” Dick butted in cheerfully and threw an arm around Harry. “You get us in the school and I’ll handle the rest.”

\--

Harry pushed the statue aside and poked his head out from behind it warily. He looked from side to side and ignored the disgruntled coughing of George the Smarmy. Neville jumped when he saw Harry’s head appear finally. Over the past couple of months he and Harry had definitely bonded over their powers though he didn’t really enjoy spending time getting into everything like Ron, Hermione, and Harry had begun to become fond of. He was fine covering for them instead.

“The coast is clear,” Neville assured the other first year though he kept glancing up and down the hallway. There was always an abundance of Prefects on the fifth floor and he really didn’t want to run into any of them at this point- though Neville honestly didn’t want to run into any of them at all. Authority figures tended to make him nervous.

Harry smiled at him and slipped from behind George (who had started cursing under his breath as more people came through) motioning for someone behind him to follow. Out first popped a dark haired kid about Harry and Neville’s age, though he was taller than both of them, then a dark haired teenager in dark glasses, a redheaded teen who looked like a Weasley, and a blond adult. Neville was shocked at the amount of people and couldn’t even stutter out a greeting.

“Nev, this is Jason, Robin, my cousin Wally, and Uncle Barry,” Harry gestured to each of them in turn, “Guys, this is Neville- the one who has plant powers.” Neville flushed under the curious eyes of the older three heroes but Jason was more concerned with the first year’s robes.

“Dude, when you made us wear the robes I thought you were just screwing with us- you really wear these to class and shit?” Jason tugged at his own robes and adjusted the Gryffindor scarf that had been draped around his neck. Barry cleared his throat at the curse that slipped from the younger boy’s mouth but he went largely ignored.

“I want you to blend in not get us all kicked out,” Harry rolled his eyes and shot Neville a look that said ‘can you believe this guy’. He smiled nervously back at his friend which garnered a grin in return. The plant manipulator wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the whole situation, and he wasn’t confident that they wouldn’t get caught. His grandmother would murder him if he got in any trouble- especially sneaking people into Hogwarts. “Hey, Neville, I gotta go change into my Quidditch robes and meet the team in the Great Hall. Can you show them to the Quidditch Pitch?”

“U-um, sure,” Neville stuttered out and without a moment’s hesitation Harry was gone.

“Well, that was nice,” Jason grumbled, rolling his eyes at the space the speedster had just vacated.

“T-the Pitch is this way,” Neville gestured in the general direction behind him.

“Lead the way,” Wally said cheerfully, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he examined the walls. They fell into step around the Gryffindor as he started down the hallway. “This place definitely has that medieval look going on. Does the school have a moat as well?”

“As long as there isn’t any crocodiles in it, I don’t really care- I get enough of those in the sewers of Gotham,” Jason groaned, sharing a look with Robin. Neville wasn’t really sure why there would be crocodiles in the pipes or surrounding the school but he was frankly too afraid to ask.

“Isn’t there only one?” Barry asked the Boy Wonder amusedly. He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

“One is enough for me.”

“I’ve got to say, I’m feeling the aster,” Robin muttered to Wally as his eyes flicked from the glaring statue to the lone painting down the hall that was trying to get a better look at the group as they approached.

“Isn’t an aster a flower?” Neville asked confused. He felt embarrassed when the two speedsters startled at his voice, obviously having forgotten he was there, despite that they were following him. Wally snorted and threw an arm around the first year.

“Ignore him, he thinks it’s entertaining to destroy the English language,” the redhead lamented dramatically and Neville cracked an unsure smile. One couldn’t tell with the glasses, but he was sure Robin rolled his eyes behind them. Jason leaned forward from where he was walking next to his brother and gave him a conspiratorial smile as well.

“He no speaky good English,” he explained in really fake accented English. Robin cuffed him over the back of the head.

“Don’t be a dick, street trash,” he scolded but a smirk was teasing at his mouth.

“If only you could do the same, circus freak,” Jason shot back and ducked under a second blow. Wally let out a snort as he and Jason shared a smile that hinted at an inside joke. The youngest hero ducked away from his brother again and popped up next to Neville. 

“Hey, Neville, I never really got to introduce myself- Harbear did it for me,” he rolled his eyes exasperatedly but it was obvious to Neville that he didn’t mean it, “I’m the best friend. He’s told me a lot about you in his letters. Jason, at your service.” He held out his hand and Neville shook it warily. 

The rest of the journey to the pitch was filled with the curiosity of two scientists (well a scientist and a skeptic) and two detectives as well as Jason trying to harass Neville out of his shell. It only kind of worked, with the pair striking up a conversation about the Forbidden Forest of all things and all the things Neville really hoped weren’t living there. He also thought Jason was entirely too excited about the prospect of giant man-eating spiders.

When they hit the Entrance Hall they managed to piggyback a pack of Ravenclaws and they blended into the crowd with surprising ease. Neville was shocked when they made it to the Pitch and all five of them were still together. Ron spotted him and waved him over to sit with the other first years. They’d taken up one of the top most rows of the Gryffindor section and were sporting a large poster (sheet?) that read ‘Potter for President’ in flashing colors and he thought Dean might’ve drawn.

Neville took a seat on the end next to Hermione who gave him a kind smile as the muggles beside him took seats around him, moving in a way that seemed completely casual. He realized that no one would even notice that they were sitting with Neville rather than just sitting with each other. Before he could think more of it though, Hermione grabbed his arm.

“Look, there’s Harry!” She exclaimed, pointing at the shortest boy on the field as he followed Fred and George out. Neville could tell he was nervous and he couldn’t blame him. He knew a little something about embarrassing yourself in front of an audience. Madam Hooch walked in between the teams who seemed to be having some sort of glaring contest and had words with all of them before allowing the captains to shake hands. They mounted there brooms and with a blow from the whistle they took to the air.

“And they’re off! The Quaffle is immediately taken by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor – what an excellent chaser that girl is, and rather attractive too –” 

“JORDAN!”

“Sorry, Professor.” No one had to see Lee Jordan to know that he was sporting a cheeky grin on his face.

“I like this guy,” Wally commented lowly with a wide grin on his face, leaning in so that Neville could be included in the conversation too. Robin’s face contorted again- most likely rolling his eyes beneath the sunglasses. 

“Why am I not surprised,” the teen snorted and the redhead punched his friend in the arm. Robin smirked lightly but didn’t retaliate, instead leaning forward so that he could observe the game easier. Jason was in a more relaxed stance but was watching the game similarly while keeping one eye on Harry the entire time. 

“Why was Lee allowed to commentate? Professor McGonagall had to have known that this was going to happen,” Dean asked in amusement, paying more attention to Lee’s comments then the game itself. 

“I have no clue, but he’s been the commentator since his first year and no one else has done it since. Apparently, he’s trying to rally for a school radio station as well,” Ron explained, laughing at the Slytherin who had to barrel roll out of the way of a Bludger and nearly falling off his broom. He was about to say more but the stadium erupted into cheers as Gryffindor scored their first goal.

“Budge up there, move along.”

“Hagrid!”

Hermione shuffled over practically on top of Ron, and Neville ended up being pushed into Robin to make room for the giant of a man. The binoculars around the man’s neck nearly smacked Neville in the face but he was pulled out of the way just in time.

“Bin watchin’ from me hut but it isn’t the same as bein’ in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?” He rumbled, his beady eyes flitting around the field in search of Harry.

“Nothing. Harry hasn’t really had anything to do yet,” sighed Ron, shaking his head slightly. Hagrid huffed out a small laugh.  
“Keepin’ outta trouble, though, that’s somethin’,” he pointed out, raising his binoculars having found the speck that was Harry in the sky.

“If only that happened more often,” Barry sighed quietly on the other side of Neville. He jumped, having forgotten that the superheroes were there. Though the younger three had spent the time quietly discussing the rules of the game and the strategies behind it, Barry had just been watching the game not having much contribute. He didn’t seem overly concerned for a muggle watching his nephew fly around with only a stick to hold him up.

“Keep dreaming, Uncle Barry, he attracts trouble like flies,” Wally smirked.

“Sounds like another speedster I know,” Robin jumped in, grinning when the smirk on the redhead’s face dropped into a pout.

“Rrrooobbbb, not cool,” he whined, crossing his arms sulkily. Robin snickered into his hand and turned his attention back to the game and his discussion with Jason. He seemed determined to sulk for the rest of the game when the excited shout of Lee and then the crowd drew his attention back to the game.

“Look there it is!” Hermione cried out, jumping up when Harry took off after the golden ball. The Slytherin seeker had seen it as well and they were both racing towards it. The first years were all on their feet jumping around excitedly while the superheroes were all on the edges of their seats, with Barry gripping the bench tightly. Jason on the other hand, who Neville noticed often tended to be the exception to everything, was on his feet yelling with the Gryffindors. Though his yelling was a lot more vulgar than what most of the first years could manage.

Harry had an obvious speed advantage and was about to reach out for the Snitch when the Slytherin captain flew in front of the seeker, causing a collision that had to have hurt Harry more than it did the captain.

“FOUL!” was screamed by hoards of Gryffindors as well as loud booing from the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Jason was cursing so much Neville could feel a blush creeping onto his face but he couldn’t take his eyes off of Harry, hoping he was okay. 

“Send him off, ref! Red card!” Dean hollered with his hands cupped around his mouth.

“What are you going on about?” Ron asked confused, momentarily distracted from his outrage.

“Red card!” the other first year huffed, stamping his foot on the ground, “In football you get shown the red card and you’re out of the game!” 

“But this isn’t football,” Ron pointed out but Hagrid started grumbling over him.

“They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry out of the air.”

“This game just got a whole lot more exciting,” Robin mused aloud, a grin stretching across his face that reminded Neville of the Weasley twins and made him feel incredibly nauseous. Jason hummed in agreement after having been wrestled back into his seat by an exasperated Barry. Wally had started bouncing in his seat, his leg bouncing much faster than the rest of his body and it was starting to look a little blurry around the edges.

Lee could be heard swearing and insulting the Slytherin team over the speakers and McGonagall was slowly giving up hope of reining him in. Neville didn’t pay attention to that for long, his eyes still on Harry as he dodged a bludger aimed at his head. He managed to get away but lurched awkwardly, nearly throwing the young speedster off.

“Something’s wrong with the broom,” Robin breathed, leaning forward suddenly, his eyes blown wide behind his sunglasses. Neville felt a trill of fear and dread go down his back as Harry jerked forward again. Wally had stilled suddenly and Barry had a knuckle tucked in between his teeth as his nephew continued to buck back and forth on the broom as if it was a bull trying to rid itself of its rider. None of the others had noticed quite yet, more concerned about the goal Slytherin had just scored.

Shouts sounded all around, replacing the cheers of the Slytherins as everyone began to notice the out of control broom. Barry jumped to his feet as Harry finally lost his grip on the broom, tumbling over the side. He managed to grab the broom with one hand and a loud gasp shook the crowd as he dangled precariously from it. Both Jason and Robin were reaching into their borrowed robes for something and Barry had placed a hand on Wally’s shoulder, holding him back.

“Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?” Seamus asked worriedly.

“Can’t have,” Hagrid shook his head as well as his voice, “Can’t nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic – no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand.” Neville glanced around at the worried faces surrounding him and couldn’t take it anymore. Tears welled up in his eyes and he could no longer see Harry or anything at all really. He felt Hagrid pull him absentmindedly to him and he turned to hide his face in the large man’s coat. 

Faintly, he heard Hermione say something about Snape and there was a brief conversation before her voice disappeared. He felt something shift beside him and he looked up for a moment to see Robin slipping after her. Another gasp rang through the crowd and Neville hid his face once again, the tears doubling and soon he was full on sobbing.

“Neville, you can look!” Ron exclaimed suddenly, leaning over and shaking the crying boy.

“Why does he look like he’s about to puke?” Wally asked, standing on his tip toes hoping to see better though it was rather pointless considering Hagrid had just stood up as well right in front of him. 

“He just coughed up the bloody Snitch, what the hell?” Ron exclaimed torn between shock and laughter. Hermione nudged him as she returned to her seat with a contemplative Robin not far behind her but didn’t say anything, instead accepting an excited hug from Seamus as she passed.

Neville had managed to clear the tears in his eyes by the time they left the stands but most of the stadium had descended into chaos. Harry luckily managed to escape from the crowd as fans left the stands and heading towards the school. He blurred over to Neville and the heroes who were waiting in the shadows with a grin on his face.

“We managed to win without me dying,” he told them cheerfully as Barry threw his arms around him and squeezed him tightly. 

“I can’t believe you frickin’ swallowed the ball- how is that not a foul?” Jason rolled his eyes though he wasn’t doing anything to hide the large grin on his face. He grabbed Harry once his uncle let go and mussed up his hair, taking advantage of the height difference. The speedster squirmed and protested but when he was released his grin was nearly eclipsing Jason’s.

“As much fun as this is it looks like we’ll have to wait to discuss this tomorrow,” Robin intervened, gesturing with a flick of his wrist at the first years who were obviously searching for Harry. “We can find our way back to the statue by ourselves, if you want to go with them, Neville.” Neville looked up at him in shock.

“Won’t you get lost?”

“Please, as if I would ever get lost,” Robin rolled his shoulders confidently as he said this and Jason let out a groan.

“That’s what you say now,” he huffed before hip bumping Harry and flashing a peace sign at Neville, “Let’s get out of here and hope that the Teen Wonder over here gets us out in one piece.”

“Nice meeting you, Neville,” Barry smiled at the first year and was obviously happy when he got a tentative smile in return. “You did amazing, Harry, just please try not to give me a heart attack next time. I want to be able to assure Iris of your safety without smudging the details.” Harry’s answering grin was a touch shy though he nearly glowed at the praise.

“See you tomorrow, shorty!” Wally punched Harry’s arm. He swung Robin onto his back and took off towards the forest, trying to avoid the crowd and take the long route to the castle. Barry picked Jason up with little fuss (though the boy wasn’t happy at being manhandled) and they were gone just as the others spotted Harry and Neville.

“Hope they didn’t scare you too much, they can be a bit overwhelming at times,” Harry commented, nudging Neville with an embarrassed grin.

“They were fine- they were actually quite nice for the most part,” Neville reassured him, “Though Jason looked like he was going to kill someone when your broom was being cursed.” The speedster rolled his eyes at that.

“He has a bit of a temper problem, his father is trying to help him control it but really they all have anger issues,” Harry winked conspiratorially at his fellow first year and Neville had to hold back a grin.

“There you are! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Hermione exclaimed as she finally neared the pair, huffing slightly from having to weave through the crowd. Ron was close behind and Hagrid had joined them at some point during their search. “We have so much to tell you.”

“I think what Harry needs first is a nice cuppa tea,” Hagrid interrupted before she could continue. The giant wrapped one arm around Harry and the other around Neville and guided them towards his hut. “Get some tea in ya and then Hermione can tell ya all about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of the lines from this chapter were taken verbatim or nearly so from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Chapter 12.


	5. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry goes home for Christmas and Nicolas Flamel appears in an unlikely place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just an apology to say, shit I'm sorry this took so long. My life got really busy really fast. Hopefully the next chapter will be up much sooner!

"Do you think that the tracks are magically charmed to repel snow? Or do they have someone go out and shovel like hundreds of miles of snow?" Harry mused, staring out the window at the snow slowly drift down onto the already white landscape. Hermione looked up from her book in consideration while Neville shot the speedster a slightly incredulous look.

"Why do you think of these things?" the other boy asked instead of answering and Harry shrugged, twirling his wand in his fingers.

"I am a man of science, Nev," he explained and Neville shook his head fondly.

"What if the train repels the snow? I mean we're not far up enough to tell," Hermione speculated, looking up at the ceiling as her fingers tapped out a tune on the cover of her (rather large) book. Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully, twirling an imaginary beard. This brought out a muffled laugh from Neville and Harry twitched triumphantly.

"But can you imagine the train plowing along the tracks and like 3 feet of snow just flying every which way but not hitting the train," the speedster snickered into his hand, casting a happy glance at Neville when the other boy laughed louder. Hermione rolled her eyes but didn't bother hiding the amused smile on her face.

"I feel kind of bad that we left Ron alone," she said suddenly, her smile fading just as quickly as it had come.

"Even if he was being a jerk?" Harry asked quirking his eyebrow. Hermione huffed.

"Yes, even when he was being a jerk."

"His brothers are staying too, I'm sure he'll be fine," Neville reassured her, ignoring Harry's disbelieving snort.

"At least he'll be able to do some more searching for Flamel," Hermione sighed, closing her book and setting it down beside her. She obviously wasn't going to get any more reading done for a while.

"I really doubt he's going to even look at the library without any of us to tell him to," Harry pointed out as he tossed his wand into the air. It didn't go exactly where he wanted and ended up nearly hitting him in the face. He thanked the world for small mercies that his super speed affected his reflexes as well.

"Well, I can hope he will, or I will be very unhappy with him," she sniffed before sighing, "He's not going to do it, is he?"

"Doubtful," Neville replied, smiling at her comfortingly.

"I just wish I knew where I heard that name before," the bushy haired girl scowled, "I know it sounds familiar but I can't place where from. Ugh, this is frustrating."

"I would ask my Gran but knowing her she would just get suspicious and I would get grounded or something," Neville admitted, scuffing his shoe on the carpet of the cabin. Harry nudged his leg.

"Don't worry about it, we'll figure it out eventually, I mean I'm pretty sure Hermione would raze the library herself if it got her one step closer to finding out who Nicolas Flamel is," the speedster grinned and ignored the scowl that was shot his way.

"I was wondering though, your family does have a library doesn't it?" Hermione asked, turning her attention fully on Neville. Harry smirked at her turned head as Neville grew nervous under Hermione's searching eyes.

"Yes?"

"Could you check there as well? Even if you can't ask your grandmother I'm sure you could look through the books, right?" she pressed and the young first year nodded warily.

"I go in there for herbology books sometimes- I'm sure it wouldn't be too weird…" he trailed off, only just avoiding stuttering. It was always difficult for him to hold himself together when she looked at him like that- she looked too much like a teacher.

"As long as you don't take up residence there I'm sure you'll be fine," Harry piped in helpfully, nudging Neville's leg again. He tossed his wand up into the air again only this time instead of heading towards his face it bounced off of Hermione's hair. "Oops."

"That's it," Hermione plucked the wand from the seat beside her before the speedster could grab it. "You're not getting this back until we get to the station."

"But Hermione!"

"Not happening," she glared at him and his indignant stare melted into a sulky one.

"Not fair," Harry muttered. Hermione simply stuck the wand behind her ear. She moved to pick up her book again but jumped up suddenly, startling Neville.

"Oh! Before I forget!" she exclaimed and stepped onto the seat so she could reach the overhead. She opened her bag and after a moment of riffling through it pulled out two wrapped packages. After checking to make sure she knew which was which, she turned and tossed each boy their respective packages. "Now don't you dare think about opening these before Christmas- you hear me?"

"But what if I want to open it now?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't care how impatient you are Harry James Potter, you better not open it until Christmas," Hermione said back through narrowed eyes. The speedster held his hands up in surrender but when he tucked the package away in his bag he couldn't hide his embarrassed and pleased smile. Harry then pulled out two presents from his bag as well and handed one to Neville and one to Hermione.

"Thanks, guys," Neville said shyly, "I'll have to send mine by owl as I'm being taken out for Christmas shopping this weekend." He glanced down at his own bag in embarrassment as he put away the package. He suddenly wished he'd had the foresight to go shopping sooner.

"Don't worry about it," Harry waved his hand at his friend, "The only reason I've got most of mine done is because my uncle sent me a letter nagging me about it." Neville looked a little more reassured after that.

\--

"You've got my phone number, right? Can you receive international texts?" Hermione asked after she had found her parents.

"Yeah, my phone is pimped out, it'll be fine," Harry reassured her, nudging her. She rolled her eyes at his indulgent tone but moved in to hug him anyway.

"Then you better text me, mister- Happy Christmas!" he hugged her back before throwing a wave at Neville, who's grandmother had found him the moment he got off of the train. "And don't open your present too early!" She called out right before she disappeared completely into the crowd. He shook his head with a fond smile.

He contemplated just heading straight to the muggle platform- he didn't really want to wait in the chaos of reuniting families by himself- but before he could make up his mind he was grabbed around the waist. Harry yelped loudly, and started flailing in his captor's arms. He was rather put out when no one even turned to see what the noise was.

"So, I guess you aren't happy to see me then?" Wally asked, dropping the young speedster.

"Dangit, Wally," the first year huffed, glaring up at his older brother figure though a grin was twitching its way onto his lips. "I'm pretty sure kidnapping is illegal in the Wizarding world too."

"Well, no one seemed to notice someone snatching a random child so I think I'm fine," the redhead shrugged before slinging an arm around Harry's shoulders and pulling him towards the platform entrance. "Though that is a bit worrying in and of itself."

"Is Uncle Barry not coming?"

"He got stuck with monitor duty," Wally smirked, "So I agreed to come pick you up without him. Is that all the luggage you have with you?" He indicated to the rather large backpack thrown over Harry's shoulder.

"Yeah, I only brought home people's presents and some of my clothes," the younger speedster explained, "I didn't want to drag everything home when winter break only lasts two weeks."

"Can't say I blame yah," Wally responded, a grin growing on his face. He clapped his hands together excitedly and Harry wasn't sure for a moment who was supposed to be watching who. "This just means we can stop for a snack on the way home!"

Harry brightened considerably, "Can we stop for gelato?" The redhead stopped and raised an eyebrow at his cousin.

"You want gelato in the middle of December?"

"It's never too cold for gelato," Harry said firmly. Wally stared at him for a moment before shrugging.

"Whatever floats your boat, cuz," he replied, slinging an arm around the boy's shoulder and dragging him towards the platform entrance. "To Italy we go!"

"Hermione, don't harass Neville, if he doesn't do it he doesn't do it, you know he's terrified of his grandmother," Harry scolded, rolling his eyes at the huff he can hear through the phone. "We can continue our search when we get back to school, let's just enjoy Christmas vacation."

"I can't just enjoy vacation- this is going to bother me until we get back and then some!" She responded indignantly and the speedster found himself rolling his eyes again.

"You just aren't trying hard enough, you can do anything if you just believe," he wiggled his fingers as he said this and though Hermione couldn't see it he knew she would catch his drift.

"Shut up, Harry," she huffed again, "Whatever, you're right, I can't do much right now."

"See, now go enjoy playing in the snow- you're lucky you actually have any there," Harry complained, glancing out the window forlornly. Hermione laughed quietly on the other end.

"It's really not that great- it's already starting to melt and soon it'll be nothing but slush. Also, trying to get anywhere has been hell," she pointed out, "My mother is calling me for dinner, I'll have to talk to you later."

"Ah, right, time differences. I've already forgotten," Harry mused aloud, "Bye, 'Mione. Make a slush-man for me."

"Good bye, Harry." There was a smile and an eye roll evident in her voice as she hung up and Harry grinned to himself as he closed the phone.

"Who were you talking to?" Iris asked as she drifted into the living room looking for something.

"Oh, just Hermione- trying to convince her to relax and enjoy time off from school," Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course, it's Hermione. She loves her school work."

"Something bothering her?" The redhead asked, putting a hand on her hip as she observed her nephew.

"We came across this name, Nicolas Flamel, and it sounds really familiar to both of us but neither of us can place it. It's driving her mad, not knowing something," Harry explained, "Spending time away from the library and not being able to continue the search isn't helping."

"I don't know how exactly the wizarding world works in regards to libraries and information, but have you tried the good old fashion method of just googling it?" Iris asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy. Harry opened his mouth and stopped. He closed it again and a troubled look crossed his face.

"I- I'm going to go do that," he muttered, standing up and blurring towards his room, ignoring the quiet laughter coming from his aunt. He bounced in his seat as he waited for the computer to turn on. Why hadn't he thought of this earlier? He didn't think he'd been stuck in the wizarding world so long that he had completely forgotten how to live in the 21st century.

Once his computer started up he quickly opened up made quick work of searching the web for Flamel. He was pleasantly surprised to find out that he had a Wikipedia page and took his time reading through the article instead of speed reading it so that he would actually remember everything once he got ahold of Hermione.

"That's who he is!" Harry exclaimed aloud and Wally poked his head through his doorway at the shout.

"Who is who?" He asked, taking a bite out of the granola bar in his hand.

"Nicolas Flamel! He's a famous alchemist from hundreds of years ago!" The younger speedster exclaimed, bouncing in his seat excitedly.

"Well, yeah, I could've told you that," Wally responded, talking around the food in his mouth. Harry stared at him before throwing his hands in the air and groaning in exasperation.

"This whole time me and the others- especially Hermione, have been searching hell and back for this and the whole time I could've just asked you?"

"It's not exactly unknown, especially considering alchemy is just primitive chemistry. Uncle Barry has mentioned it before," the redhead explained, walking over to pat his cousin on the shoulder.

"So that's where I heard it. I remember Uncle Barry complaining about it like a year ago," Harry groaned into the desk. "Wait, crap, I have to call Hermione!" He pulled out his phone and flipped it open so hard he was actually surprised it didn't crack. Silently patting himself on the back for remembering to add her to his speed dial, he was soon eagerly listening to the phone ringing. "Come on, come on." He muttered under his breath.

Wally sat down on the other boy's bed and shoved the rest of the granola bar in his mouth before pulling out another from his jacket pocket. Harry shot him a look that was ignored but before he could say anything he was distracted by the click on the other line.

"Hermione-!"

"You've reached Hermione Granger. Sorry I can't come to the phone right now, please leave your name and number at the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as I can! Thank you, and I hope you have a nice day!"

"Goddangit, Hermione! Of all times to not pick up the phone! Look, it's me, Harry and I've figured out who Nicolas Flamel is! Call me back ASAP, got it?" Harry snapped his phone shut and slumped back onto his desk.

"Of course she wouldn't answer her phone while she was eating. Dangit Hermione, why do you have to be so freakin' polite?" he said.

"Maybe you'll finally learn some manners from her," Wally commented with a smirk and his cousin turned a glare on him.

"This coming from you of all people?" he scowled. The redhead tried to respond, but he had just taken a bite again and his words were muffled by granola. Harry sent him an incredulous look. Swallowing quickly, Wally opened his mouth again. This time though, a song blared suddenly from Harry's phone interrupting the redheaded teen.

"The Scooby Doo theme?" He asked instead as Harry grabbed his phone.

"It's a long story," the younger speedster responded, flicking his phone open. "Hermione, finally!"

"I missed your call by two minutes, it wasn't that long," Hermione huffed, "But that doesn't matter- you found out who Flamel is? How?"

"I googled it," Harry told her and the silence following was better than expected. Then she suddenly burst into a series of curses that would make Ron proud. "My, my, what language you're spewing. I'm shocked."

"Shut up, Harry," she grumbled and then he could hear her moving the phone away from her mouth, "Sorry, Mum!" Her tone was embarrassed. Harry started laughing so hard he had to brace himself on the desk. "Shut up, Harry," Hermione reprimanded once again. She waited a few moments for his laughter to die down before grilling him. "So, what did you find out?"

"He's an alchemist from the thirteenth century- like the alchemist. He was said to have written tons of books and stuff on it. He's also reported as finding out how to create the philosopher's stone- the key to immortality as well as turning different metals into gold," he explained, his eyes flicking over the article once again so he didn't forget anything. "He's so famous that even the muggles knew about him and he even has a kids series named after him."

"The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel! That's where I know him from! I read it over the summer! I think I also read about him in one of the books I checked out at the beginning of the year wanting some light reading," Hermione groaned into the phone and Harry could hear the smack as she hit her forehead in exasperation.

"Let me guess, the book had no less than a thousand pages," he asked, placing a hand on his hip though she couldn't see him.

"Please, not even close, it may have also been the size of a podium," she admitted, "But this is great! I bet you anything that the Philosopher's Stone is what is hiding under that trap door."

"And we know why someone would want to steal it- unlimited riches and immortality? That's like a supervillain's ultimate fantasy," Harry exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. "And hey, now you can actually enjoy your vacation."

Hermione laughed, "True, though let's not tell Ron. Let him sweat it out a bit about not looking when we get back."

"I can get behind that, I'll talk to you later."

"Bye!" Harry shut his phone again, dropping it back on his desk.

"There's a supervillain at your school? Why didn't you tell me?" Wally demanded, suddenly reminding his cousin that he was there. The first year startled violently and hit his knee against the desk. He let out a muffled yelp and curled into himself, trying to ignore the sudden pain. Wally started laughing instead of comforting him, earning a glare from Harry.

"Now I'm not going to tell you anything," he muttered, rubbing his throbbing knee crankily.

"Aw, come one, don't be like that," the redhead teased, nudging the younger speedster. The first year scowled at his cousin and snatched his phone up again to text Jason. He hadn't had a chance to talk to him about anything since the Quidditch match what with exams on Harry's end and a large Arkham breakout in Gotham. He would definitely want to be updated on everything.

"Fine, so first off, there's this giant freaking dog on the third floor of the school…"

\--

On Christmas morning, Harry was in for a rather rude awakening, literally. As much as he loved Christmas he could have done without Wally throwing himself onto his bed at 8 in the morning. The redhead had done a running jump and completely crushed his cousin's body with his.

"Wally, go away!" Harry groaned, squirming as he tried to extract himself from beneath the older speedster. Wally let himself go limp and the first year let out another groan.

"No way, it's Christmas, you gotta get up," he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air, ignoring the squirming still going on beneath him, "It's present time, present time, open it and see what's inside!"

"I don't care," the first year groaned and Wally let out a sigh.

"Fine then," he said morosely, rolling off of the bed and off of Harry, "I guess I'll just have to open your presents for you." With that he blurred out of the room. Harry sighed in relief and let himself sink back into his pillows, closing his eyes. A moment later his eyes shot open and he jerked forward into a sitting position.

"Wally, don't you dare!" The youngest speedster yelled and he threw himself out of bed when he heard Wally's laugh below him. He ran down the hallway and skidded into the living room, knocking the redhead to the ground.

"Good, you're up," Iris said, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with her arms crossed. "Time for breakfast."

"Why can't we open presents first?" Wally whined from his place on the ground and Iris raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you 7 or 17?" she asked. He responded with a low muttering that caused her to roll her eyes. "Just hurry to get your waffles before Barry eats them all." She told them, ignoring the muffled 'hey!' in the kitchen. Harry hopped to his feet excitedly and loped towards the waffles. Iris ruffled his hair as he passed.

The first year was excited to find that when he sat down at his seat there were chocolate chips in his waffles. Barry smiled at Harry fondly and when he met Iris's rolling eyes the smile grew. Wally appeared suddenly beside him (well suddenly if he didn't have superspeed as well) with a grumpy look on his face that melted away as soon as he laid eyes on the waffles.

The normally talkative family fell into silence as they all dug into their waffles, Iris with a lot more finesse than her husband and nephews. Even with a lack of superspeed though, she was a pro at eating quickly and so the whole table was done with their breakfast rather quickly. Wally stood up and before either Barry or Iris could open their mouths he had gathered everyone's plates. He placed them all in the sink and cleared the rest of the table in record time. Without further ado he disappeared into the living room with an excited cheer.

"Shouldn't I be the one more excited about presents than him?" Harry asked idly, shaking his head.

"You can pretend you aren't excited all you want but you know you love Christmas," Barry teased, blurring over to ruffle Harry's hair before disappearing into the living room after Wally.

"Yeah, now that I get presents," he muttered though he was smiling. Iris was gave him a sympathetic look and he realized what he said. "You know it doesn't bother me anymore."

"That doesn't make it right," she told him and he shrugged. She walked over to him and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Go get to your presents before Wally opens yours as well as his." Harry rolled his eyes but ran into the other room with a shy smile on his face.

While not as excited as Wally, Harry still attacked his presents with a certain gusto, pulling out all of his presents from under the tree and piling them up for him to open. He got something from Hermione, from Wally, from Iris and Barry, and was also surprised to see that he got a sweater with a note from Mrs. Weasley. Ron and Neville's presents must have also been delivered in the middle of the night as they were there as well. He hoped that everyone's presents from him were delivered on time but he had faith in Hedwig.

There was another package though that caught his attention. It was light and covered in fine paper. A note was attached to the top reading 'Your father left this in my possession before he died. Use it well.' There was no name and not even a holiday well-wishing.

"Who's that one from?" Iris asked, leaning over to look at the note, the reindeer antlers that Barry had placed on her head brushing against his hair.

"I don't know, it doesn't say," Harry frowned, turning the package over in his hands in search of a name.

"Maybe it's a bomb," Wally suggested with a grin. Barry snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Somehow I doubt that," the blond said. Harry ignored them as he finally opened the package, a swath of shimmering fabric unfurling from the paper.

"Is that a blanket?" Wally asked, raising an eyebrow at the cloth.

"It looks like a cloak," Harry replied, toying with the fabric. He moved to turn it over but let out a gasp as his hand disappeared beneath the fabric. The cloak suddenly became transparent, his hand and lap disappearing into the carpet.

"Holy shit," Wally exclaimed and Iris threw a rolled up ball of wrapping paper at her nephew. "Sorry, Aunt Iris," he grumbled back at her but never taking his eyes off the cloak, "So it's an invisibility- blanket?"

Harry looked away from the cloak to roll his eyes at his cousin, "Cloak, an invisibility cloak."

"Are you sure it doesn't have a name?" Barry asked, blinking in surprise at the cloak.

"I don't see one," he shrugged but handed the note to his uncle.

"Well, whoever it's from has a flair for dramatics," Wally said, leaning over his uncle's shoulder.

"This coming from you?" Barry grinned, casting a glance at his nosy nephew. The redhead huffed in response and fell back on the floor, crossing his arms in displeasure. He then leaned behind his uncle to whisper in Harry's ear.

"Imagine all the trouble you could get into with this," he said, grinning slyly. Harry grinned back but both jumped as another ball of paper came sailing their way.

"Stop being a bad influence!"

"Aunt Iris!"


End file.
